Chris Croft is an independent employee engagement and internal comms consultant. In this blog, which originally featured in Emma book, Employee Engagement, she talks about why we need a purpose uprising and shares her practical tips to develop a compelling purpose.
“A google search of ‘purposeful companies’ reveals more than 96 million results (that’s more than Harry Potter and Donald Trump combined!). Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock, one of the largest investment companies in the world, wrote to every CEO in the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 saying:
“Without a sense of purpose, no company, either public or private, can achieve its full potential….. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society. Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate.”
Never before has there been so much talk of purpose amongst world leaders, business leaders and broader society. But why now? Purpose is not a new concept and certainly the marketing community have been talking about purposeful brands for decades.
What is emerging now is a multi-dimensional sense of purpose. It’s not just about what a company does for customers anymore. It’s about the difference the company makes in the world, in society, for its employees, customers and shareholders. Today’s concept of purpose is much more humanistic and broader than it’s ever been.
Academics, consultants and business schools have discussed many reasons for this. Firstly, society is changing. As more and more countries reach higher levels of development, so they move through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, approaching the pinnacle of Maslow’s pyramid – ‘self-actualisation’ and we see a shift from ‘material want’ to ‘meaning want’. This is also a result of the ageing population, and reflects that the older you get, the more meaning you seek in life, and you become less interested in material wealth.
For the first time ever – there are now more adults over the age of 45 than under. Think of the impact that is having on our global society.
But it’s not just about the older generation’s shifting expectations. The younger generations, certainly in mature markets, mostly get whatever they want, instantly. Obtaining material things no longer gives them the same satisfaction. As they begin to join the workforce, they are demanding greater meaning from their work and lives. They want a strong sense of purpose.
“A transition from ‘material want’ to ‘meaning want’ is in progress on a historically unprecedented scale – involving hundreds of millions of people – and may be eventually recognised as the principle cultural development of our age.” Gregg Easterbrook, Editor, New Republic
Lastly, the business world is on the brink of another revolution. We’ve heard how VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) is disrupting every industry and the pressure to address the productivity gap is immense. Only the agile, innovative, customer centric and highly productive will survive. And this is where a greater sense of purpose comes in. Organisations, and their boards in particular, are beginning to realise that a strong sense of purpose can actually build greater resilience, innovation and super charge engagement and productivity. Study after study confirms it and if you’re interested in finding out more, visit EY’s Beacon Institute.
What makes a compelling purpose these days?
I’ve briefly mentioned that the modern concept of organisational purpose is multidimensional and humanistic. But what does that really mean? It means that your purpose should:
- Aspire to make something about the world or society better
- Inspire a call to action
- Create value for employees
- Maximise shareholder value
- Bring value to customers
A compelling articulation of the above should evoke an emotional connection to your brand.
An example of such a purpose is Whole Foods, recently bought by Amazon for $13.7bn:
‘With great courage, integrity and love – we embrace our responsibility to co-create a world where each of us, our communities and our planet can flourish. All the while, celebrating the sheer love and joy of food.’
Much is written about this successful organisation but if you read their annual report and accounts or visit their website, you will get a strong sense that it is indeed, driven by a strong sense of purpose. In their annual report last year, Whole Foods Co CEO John Mackey, said:
“We believe that much of our success to date is because we remain a uniquely mission-driven company.”
If purpose is so great, why isn’t everybody using it?
In a Harvard Business Review paper entitled: ‘The Business Case for Purpose’, a great question is raised. If almost all the CEOs and executives HBR interviewed said that purpose would improve employee satisfaction and success of transformation efforts, what is stopping them? The research found one key differentiator between those who had embedded purpose and those who hadn’t: poor leadership communications was preventing them from ‘activating’ purpose in their organisations.
Top Tips to develop Purpose
So you now know that most CEOs are thinking about this, and maybe you already know this because you’re already working on the Purpose of your organisation. At a recent conference I asked the question ‘how many of you are currently working on refreshing or creating a new purpose for your company?’ and over 50% of the audience put their hands up.
How? Here are my 5 top tips:
- Step up and own the ‘purpose opportunity’ in your organisation. Initiate the conversation with your CEO. Spend time thinking about your own purpose and values and then work on your teams’.
- Help articulate the company’s purpose – make it compelling, positive and customer-focused.
- Communicate it awesomely. And keep doing it.
- Develop ways to help leaders inspire through purpose. Provide them with tools and opportunities to talk to their teams about their own purpose and values and how they connect to their organisation’s. And continue this by proving regular hooks for them to keep the conversation alive (this shouldn’t feel like a campaign).
- Work closely with marketing and PR to align purposeful messages externally and internally. Employees feel the organisations purpose everywhere, in their dealing with managers, in the advertising they see, and in how the media talks about company.
In summary, I’d say that Purpose is not going to go away, it is only going to be amplified. By our employees, by our customers, by society and increasingly by mainstream investors. Like it or not, your organisation will at some point in the future, if it isn’t already, be thinking about how it can be more purposeful. And if it isn’t, then perhaps you should start the conversation!”
